Nintendo has a difficult relationship with emulators and a strong opinion about them. It seems all the more absurd that the company is currently using them itself – and in public.
How does Nintendo feel about emulators? The Japanese company is quite critical of playing their titles on systems other than their own consoles. On the official website, Nintendo makes it clear that it is not okay to download ROMs of old games and play them on the PC using emulators.
Even those who bought the original game back then are not allowed to emulate it. According to Nintendo, users are violating copyright law. Emulators have been taken offline in the past. This is what happened to the developers who created the Switch emulator Yuzu – they were sued by Nintendo. An agreement was later reached and the creators behind Yuzu paid $2.4 million to the video game giant.
It seems even stranger that Nintendo itself apparently uses emulators on Windows computers. An attentive fan discovered this.
Nintendo is not only suing the creators of emulators, but also currently against the makers of Palworld:
Nintendo files lawsuit against Palworld makers!
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Emulators in your own museum?
What did the fan find out? x-User @ChrisMack32 visited the newly opened Nintendo Museum in Kyoto. There, fans of the company can learn about its history and play well-known titles at various stations.
Among other things, at an SNES stand where the x-user played Super Mario World. However, as he unplugged the iconic controller from the cable, he heard a familiar sound that didn’t fit the venerable SNES console at all.
As you can hear in his video on x.com, the Windows noise sounds, which is played whenever a device is disconnected from the PC. This leads to the conclusion that Nintendo is using emulators in the museum.
The reason for this is probably that it enables a more stable and secure gaming experience. However, given Nintendo’s position on emulators, the matter still seems a bit strange.
How do users react? The discovery sparks amusement on x.com. But some fans are also frustrated with Nintendo’s handling of emulators. For many people, it’s not even about free access to games.
The user @FedCom_Security sums it up well when he writes on x.com: “Sell us the ROMs and no one will care. Also sells us an emulator that works. You will still sell the new systems.”
It is questionable whether the company’s handling of emulators will change in the future. Apart from that, Nintendo is currently working on a Switch successor. MeinMMO editor Benedikt Schlotmann has a clear idea of what the console should look like: If Nintendo listens to some fans, then the Switch 2 will lose its greatest strengths